Winter in Rivendell
by SkyFire2
Summary: It's winter in Rivendell and the young Twins want to have some fun in the snow with their Ada and Glorfindel. Things don't *quite* go as planned. Please R/R.


Winter in Rivendell  
by SkyFire  
  
Rating: PG  
Summary: It's winter in rivendell and the young twins want to have some fun in the snow with   
their Ada and Glorfindel. Things don't *quite* go as planned. Poor Glorfindel. XoP  
  
Warnings: None? ;oP  
Archiving: Ask first!!  
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were. Plotbunnies *are* mine, though. Don't steal 'em-- feed 'em!   
They like reviews! :o)  
  
Author's Notes: This is just a fic that popped into my head when I was trying to write a   
winter-in-Rivendell fic. *sigh* The plotbunnies derailed *that* plot and turned it into *this*   
one before I knew what was going on. *shrugs* Ah, well. I still have the other plot written   
down in my plotbunnies file, so I guess I'll have to end up writing that one later! ;o)  
  
This fic is in two parts, clearly marked. The first part is the original fic. The second is the   
optional continuation that popped into my head while I was editing the first part. There will be   
more of an explanation when you get there. ;oP  
  
Hope you enjoy the fic, and don't forget to review! :o)  
  
*****  
Winter in Rivendell  
by SkyFire  
  
"Ada! Ada!"  
  
Elrond looked up from the scrolls he and Glorfindel were poring over at the sound of the shrill,   
and yet strangely muffled, shriek. Alarmed, the two lords of Imladris rose quickly and turned to   
the open door that led into the hallway, the door through which the call had come.  
  
"Elrohir?" Elrond called, taking a step toward the door.  
  
From the hallway beyond, there came the patter of small feet, followed by a low thud, quiet *ouch!*,   
then more footsteps. Several thuds later, a pile of clothing stumbled into the study, the little   
booted feet sticking out the bottom of the pile carrying it crazily from one side to the other.  
  
Elrond and Glorfindel stared at he pile, blinked, and shared a confused glance, then looked back   
to the intruder.  
  
"Ada?" the pile called. "Ada, are you here?"  
  
"I am," Elrond said. With an amused smile on his face, he went over and began pulling items from   
the top of the pile, soon uncovering the flushed face of one of his sons. "What is it, Elrohir?"  
  
Elrohir smiled widely up at his father. "Ada, you have to come outside!" Catching sight of   
Glorfindel nearby, he added, "'Findy, too!" He opened his arms, dropping the rest of the clothing   
he held to the floor. He immediately plopped down in front of it and began tossing items at his   
father and pseudo-uncle. "Pants for Ada, pants for 'Findy." The items flew through the air to be   
caught by the grinning lords. Elrohir looked to the two after having tossed over pants, shirts,  
socks and tunics. He frowned slightly. "Ada, take off the dress and put the clothes on! 'Findy   
too! Hurry!"  
  
The two sighed in amusement and went through the side-door to Elrond's bedroom for a bit of   
privacy for changing.  
  
"What do you think he wants to show us this time?" Glorfindel asked as he carefully lay his robes   
over the back of a chair, then began pulling on the clothing Elrohir had given him, clothing that   
had been taken from his room.  
  
"I have no idea," Elrond replied, smiling indulgently as he dressed.  
  
"Are you going to leave your *dress* lying on the floor like that?" Glorfindel asked, a   
mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "It will get all wrinkled."  
  
"Don't *you* start!" Elrond said, mock-glaring at his friend. But he *did* pick his robes up off   
the floor where they had fallen and lay them out on the bed to wait for his return.  
  
He hadn't yet managed to explain to the twins the difference between dresses and robes in a way   
that they understood, and they kept calling his formal robes 'dresses'. He grinned as he   
remembered when Galadriel and Celeborn had come to Imladris to see the Twins the year before, and  
Elladan had politely complimented Celeborn on *his* dress.  
  
"What?" Glorfindel asked at the other's sudden grin.  
  
"Celeborn's 'pretty dress'," Elrond replied.  
  
It was the first time that Elrond had seen Celeborn anything other than completely composed. As   
he recalled, the silver-haired Elf-lord had blushed a deep red from the roots of his hair clear   
down his neck, and Galadriel had laughed so hard that she could no longer stand.  
  
Elladan and Elrohir had been confused about what everyone was laughing about, and repeatedly   
assured their grandfather that no matter what everone else thought, his dress was very nearly as   
pretty as Galadriel's.  
  
Once dressed, Elrond and Glorfindel went back into the study, where Elrohir had busily sorted the   
rest of the clothing into two piles. He looked up as they entered and smiled, showing the new   
space where one of his front teeth had finally fallen out. Then he pointed to a pile of boots,   
cloak and mittens. "Ada, that's yours," he said. He looked to Glorfindel as he pointed to the   
other pile. "'Findy, that's yours. I couldn't find your mittens though, so I brought some of my   
extra ones for you." The elfling held out a pair of little mittens tied together by a long string,   
completely forgetting the fact that Glorfindel's hands were a good three times bigger than his   
own.  
  
Glorfindel smiled gently at the elfling, taking up the clothing in 'his' pile. "Thank you,   
Elrohir, but I know where my mittens are. I'll go get them," he said. After pulling on cloak and   
boots, the blond hurried out of the study to go fetch his mittens.  
  
Elrohir sat on the floor, holding his extra mittens. He looked to his father. "Ada? Why doesn't   
'Findy like my mittens?" he asked, lower lip trembling.  
  
Elrond looked over, then gently hugged his son to him, petting the dark, silky hair that was so   
like his own. "Glorfindel likes your mittens, Elrohir, it's just that they are too small."  
  
"They are *not* too small!" Elrohir said, angry now. "They fit good! Maybe 'Findy is just too   
big!"  
  
By the time Glorfindel returned, mittens in hand, Elrond had managed to get Elrohir calmed and   
dressed in his own outdoors clothes.  
  
The three were just about to leave the study when an Elf entered.  
  
"Here are the reports you wanted, my Lord," he said to Elrond, holding up a sheaf of papers.  
  
"No," Elrohir moaned, seeing that *look* in his father's eyes, the look that said that his ada   
wasn't going to be going outside with him after all. "Ada," he said, pulling ungently on his   
father's hand, "we're going outside!"  
  
"Not right now, Elrohir," Elrond said distractedly, pulling off mittens and cloak, hindered by   
the fact that Elrohir wouldn't stop tugging on his hand. "Let go."  
  
"But, Ada!" the boy whined. "Elladan-"  
  
"Where *is* Elladan?" Elrond asked, frowning as he couldn't remember having seen his other son   
all morning.  
  
"Outside! Ada, come on!"  
  
"Glorfindel...?" Elrond asked.  
  
Glorfindel was already nodding. He took Elrohir's hand from his father and clasped it warmly in   
his own mittened hand. "Come on, Elrohir. Let's go find Elladan."  
  
As the two left, Elrond could hear Elrohir's little voice speaking. "I don't have to *find*   
Elladan, 'Findy. I *know* where he is. Hurry up!"  
  
And Glorfindel's voice in reply. "I am hurrying. But, Elrohir, could you stop calling me 'Findy?"  
  
"All right, 'Delly."  
  
A sigh. "On second thought, 'Findy is fine."  
  
***  
  
It was three hours later and Elrond had mostly forgotten about the earlier events as he sat once   
again at his desk, poring over the new reports.  
  
He looked up in startlement as the Twins hurtled into the room, both liberally covered in melting   
snow and nearly hysterical.  
  
"Ada! Ada! Come quick!" they yelled.  
  
Elrond stood at once. "What is it?" he asked as he hurried over to stand near them, eyes quickly   
scanning them for blood, bruises... whatever had made them so frightened.  
  
They just grabbed his hands and pulled him as fast as they could down many hallways until they   
came to -Elrond's heart nearly froze with fear- the infirmary. What had happened that he was   
needed there and that the twins were alone and hysterical? Where was Glorfindel??  
  
The last question was answered as they came around the door and into the infirmary itself. Lying   
there on one of the beds was Glorfindel and what seemed to be half of a young bush. Melting snow   
was faintly tinged with red and the blond was moaning.  
  
"*What* happened?" Elrond asked as he hurried over. He quickly pulled away several of the branches   
without moving the other lord and dropped them to the floor where they were quickly pushed aside   
by the Twins.  
  
Elrohir sniffled. "We were sliding down the hill. It was fun, Ada, you should have come!"  
  
Elladan nodded. "Then 'Findy slipped and slid down the wrong side. The tree got in the way.   
'Findy was going pretty fast when he hit it, but the tree won anyway."  
  
Elrohir wiped at his dripping nose with his hand. "'Findy yelled, Ada! 'Findy said a lot of   
words I never heard before. And blood was coming out of his nose. He was walking funny all the   
way back..."  
  
Elladan hugged his twin, petting him gently. "Is 'Findy going to be all right, Ada?"  
  
Elrond looked up from Glorfindel. "Yes, Glorfindel will be all right. Now go and change out of   
your wet things before you catch a chill."  
  
With a last wide-eyed glance at the golden-haired Elf-lord, the Twins left the infirmary.  
  
Once they were gone, Elrond fetched some clean cloths, warm water, ointments, and bandages, then   
looked down at Glorfindel who was staring back up at him through eyes that couldn't quite seem to   
focus. "Words they never heard before?" he asked, one eyebrow raised in query.  
  
Glorfindel winced. "Sorry," he said in a strangely nasal-sounding voice. "Id's nod ebery day   
dat I ged beaden up by a tree, and id *hurd*!"  
  
Elrond frowned, though his eyes sparkled with mischief. "Just be aware that if the Twins start   
using some of those words, *they* will *not* be the only ones going around with mouthes full of   
soap-bubbles!" He pulled away the rest of the branches, put them aside, then carefully examined   
the blond for injuries. "The most serious is your broken nose," he said at last. Indeed, it was   
swelling up, the bruising spreading to darken both eyes. "Mostly, you are a vision of scratches  
and bruises. The Twins said you were walking funny...? Was it just because of your load of   
branches?"  
  
Glorfindel winced. "No. Like dey said, I slid down de wrond side of de hill. Bery fasd. De   
tree... id stobbed me... bud id hit me..." He winced again, stared wordlessly over at Elrond, his   
eyes saying all that he could not voice.  
  
"Ouch," Elrond said in sympathy, wincing. He shook his head, then reached for Glorfindel's   
broken nose. "This is going to hurt. Not as much as... but enough."  
  
Warned of the impending pain, Glorfindel made only a small noise as Elrond quickly straightened   
his nose. Though he said nothing, he gratefully took, then quickly drank, the cup of numbwine   
that the other poured for him. Soon, he felt vaguely like he was floating not quite entirely   
attached to his body, and the pain was dulled as if it could not *quite* reach him.  
  
He lay there passively as Elrond removed the last of his outdoors-gear and a few small twigs,   
then covered him with a warm blanket.  
  
It didn't take him long after that to fall asleep.  
  
*  
************************************************************  
Winter in Rivendell (The optional continuation)  
by SkyFire  
  
A/N: Turn back now! ;oP If you're still going to read this part, the least I can do is give fair   
warning: I don't know where the heck the Muses came up with this. It's just something that   
*happened* while I was editing "Winter in Rivendell". It's basically plotless, pointless and   
more than a little silly. Hope you like it. :o)  
  
*****  
Winter in Rivendell (The optional continuation)  
by SkyFire  
  
The next day saw Glorfindel up and about once more.  
  
After finishing his breakfast, he declined Elrond's offer to join him in his study to once again   
look over the plans for the soon-to-come midwinter feast, then went up to his rooms.  
  
He soon came back down the main stairway, dressed once again in his outdoor gear.  
  
Once outside, Glorfindel made a small detour to one of the various garden-sheds around the valley,   
taking up a small axe. Thus armed, he left the small building, closing the door carefully behind   
him, and made his way back to the hill where he and the Twins had been sliding the say before.  
  
Even though his eyes were still bruised and swollen, his vision slightly blurry, he had no   
trouble finding it. He smiled faintly in rememberance as he saw the trail they had made, and the   
sliding-marks left on the snow. Truly, they had been having a lot of fun!  
  
A few short moments later, he was at the top of the small hill and following the marks he had   
made the day before on his unfortunate journey down the wrong side. Unlike the slide on the   
other side of the hill, these marks were not in a straight line. They skittered left one moment,   
right the next, and varied in depth to just on the surface of the snow to plowing a through it a   
few inches deep.  
  
He even found the exact place where he had briefly tumbled head-over-heels, ending with him   
keeping on sliding downhill feet-first, instead of head-first as he had started.  
  
His trail passed over rocks and small bushes, showing to Glorfindel exactly *how* he had ended up   
with those scratches and bruises all over his back even though it had been mostly his front that   
had argued with the tree.  
  
The tree itself was not hard to find; the trail led to it quite clearly, and he winced in   
not-so-forgotten pain as he saw how the trail his feet had been leaving in the snow split, one   
foot passing on either side of the trunk before coming to an abrupt stop. The snow was   
splattered with red all around the tree- blood that had flowed from his newly-broken nose.  
  
Glorfindel stared at his nemesis for a long moment, then smiled grimly. The branches he had...   
removed... the day before had helped its over-full appearance enormously. It was perfect.  
  
Even with blurry vision, it wasn't hard for him to hack into the base of the trunk with his   
little axe. Within minutes, he had felled it.  
  
//You might have felled me first, but I felled you last!// He thought in satisfaction, smiling   
somewhat wryly to himself. //Glorfindel, you truly need to sit down and think about things if   
you are seriously glad about getting even with a *tree*.//  
  
But he *did* feel a glow of satisfaction.  
  
He stared down at the tree, then a thought occurred to him. //I felled it. The Tree. And silly   
or not, looking at it *is* giving me a feeling of warmth. Perhaps I could-//  
  
A quick search of his pockets found a length of string that would do the job he needed. I no   
time, he had tied the branches tight against the trunk of the small tree and, axe over his   
shoulder, was dragging the tree with him back to the House of Elrond.  
  
**  
  
//One more, I think,// Glorfindel said to himself, //at the top.//  
  
He stood in his sitting room. He looked around, saw the perfect item hanging up in the hallway   
outside his rooms. He stepped to the open door and looked furtively around for anyone who might   
see him, then crossed the hall and took the decoration down.  
  
"Is there something wrong with the star, Glorfindel?" Elrond's voice came from down the hallway.  
  
Glorfindel stiffened, looked to the dark-haired lord who was, a Twin at either side, nearing him.   
He looked down at the silver star in his hand, then back at Elrond. "No?" he said.  
  
"Then why are you taking it?" came the simple question.  
  
"I... uh..." Glorfindel's mind raced, trying to come up with a logical explanation for the small   
theft, failed. He sighed. "Because it would look good somewhere else?" he said at last.  
  
One dark eyebrow lifted. "Oh?" Elrond asked, arms swinging from front to back as the Twins   
pulled on them. "Where?"  
  
Glorfindel sighed, led them into his room. He placed the star in the place he had wanted it.   
"Right there," he said simply, standing aside to let them see what he had done.  
  
Elrond stared, eyes wide, mouth dropped open in an O of surprise.  
  
The Twins were ecstatic.  
  
"'Findy!" Elrohir exclaimed, eyes wide. "It's beautiful! Look at all the ribbons!"  
  
"And bells! And glass!" Elladan continued, equally as enchanted as his brother.  
  
Before them stood Glorfindel's nemesis. The blond had anchored it firmly in a heavy pot full of   
rocks, and hung its branches with the ornaments the Twins seemed to like so much. Elbereth's   
star had a place of honor at the very top.  
  
Elrond looked to the blond. "This is *the* tree, isn't it?" he asked at last as he watched   
Elladan and Elrohir go over to the tree, staring at the ornaments in awe, crawling under it and   
looking up through the branches, talking excitedly together.  
  
Glorfindel nodded. "Yes," he said. A faint blush colored his face. "I know I should feel silly   
for wanting revenge on a tree, but-" He shrugged. "And it *is* pretty."  
  
Elrond nodded. "It is."  
  
"So I can keep the star where it is?"  
  
The half-Elf nodded. "Yes."  
  
***  
  
"Ada! Ada!"  
  
Elrond looked up at the sound. A small smile was on his lips as he remembered the sight that had   
greeted him the *last* time he had heard Elrohir's voice muffled like that.  
  
Soon, as it had two days before, the pile of clothing with feet came into the study, then the   
clothing was dropped to the floor.  
  
"Ada! Come on," Elrohir said eagerly. He pointed to the clothing he had brought. "Change!   
Hurry! We have to go before anyone gets here!"  
  
Deciding that the papers he had been working on could wait, Elrond took up the clothing and went   
to his bedroom to change, Elrohir following close at his heels.  
  
The youngster's enthusiasm was contagious. Soon, Elrond found himself hurrying to get ready even   
without Elrohir's constant prompting.  
  
Once clothed to Elrohir's satisfaction, Elrond looked down at his small son. "Now what?" he   
asked simply.  
  
Elrohir took his father's hand in his own, tugged him from the bedroom, through the study, and   
out into the hallway where Elladan waited. Both of the Twins were dressed in their outdoor-gear,   
even as their father was.  
  
One twin tugging him along at each hand, Elrond walked with them down the hallway, then outside.   
"Where are we going?" he asked. He *thought* he knew. They *had* wanted him to go sliding with   
them, after all....  
  
He was confused when they tugged him not in the direction of their regular sliding-hill, but   
toward a small wood of young trees. His confusion only grew as he saw Glorfindel there waiting   
for them, a small axe in hand.  
  
"Where are we going?" he asked again.  
  
"Ada," Elrohir said, staring up at him with his big eyes, grinning. "We want a tree in our room,   
like 'Findy's! We *need* one!"  
  
Elrond smiled at the young one's pleading tone. "All right, you can have a tree in your room.   
But you have to take care of it; water it, pick up its mess...."  
  
"We will!" the two small voices sounded in happy unison.  
  
As the Twins darted off into the small wood in search of 'their' tree, Elrond looked to   
Glorfindel.  
  
"You might have started something," he said with a small smirk.  
  
Glorfindel shrugged. "As long as no one finds out the true reason behind it," he answered.  
  
Then the two Elf-lords followed the sound of happily shrieking Twins into the wood to cut down   
their perfect tree and bring it back with them to put up and decorate.  
  
END  
*grin* Poor Glorfindel. I seem to have a habit of picking on him, don't I? ;oD Don't worry- I   
have a few WIPs on my hard drive where it's Elrond, Celeborn and Thranduil's turns....   
Mwahahahaha!   
  
*Ahem* Right.   
  
Anyways, you know the routine: if you liked the story (even if you stopped at the beginning of   
the "optional continuation" ;o) ), click the button down there and leave the plotbunnies and I   
some reviews! ;oD We read them over and over and over and over and over and.... 


End file.
